MI Department Axes Contract to Provide Services at Airport

Jul. 16—TRAVERSE CITY — Long before Traverse City officials opted to pull out of a 20-year-old agreement to provide aircraft rescue and firefighting services at the Cherry Capital Airport, union members had major problems with the contract.

Traverse City Professional Firefighters Local 646 had raised issues — and those complaints resurfaced — just before city administrators axed the pact.

In fact, firefighters union President Jacob Steichen urged city commissioners to dump the deal.

And, while union members had complaints, particularly if a third-party contractor were brought in, both firefighters and administrators were in accord as to one common concern: Staffing.

Department Chief Jim Tuller said he was aware of the union's positions, but other than staffing, their complaints weren't a factor in the city's decision to drop the contract.

"The decision for us to conclude our agreement with the airport and providing personnel out there was totally based on a discussion that was had between myself, the city management team and the city commission, and it all came down to staffing," Tuller said.

It's the same reason why Tuller initially told airport Chief Operating Officer Dan Sal the department couldn't agree to the airport's request to provide a second firefighter. He said as much less than a month after airport administrators gave notice they wanted to renew the city and airport's aircraft rescue and firefighting services contract, last updated in 2020.

Steichen, a city firefighter paramedic, asked the city to drop the contract in May. He linked the request to ongoing struggles to staff the department's Station 2 on Eighth Street, which the department has occasionally shuttered a day or so at a time when it can't fill a shift.

In an email to city commissioners, Steichen argued that dropping the airport contract would mean the department could keep Station 2 staffed and open throughout the summer.

Firefighters weren't interested in working with a then-unknown outside contractor, with 14 union members signing a letter stating they would drop their aircraft rescue firefighting certification if the airport brought in an outside company.

Even before the request to renew and add a second firefighter, Steichen said department staff were working mandatory overtime to cover for ongoing shortages. For those 14 members, the letter was a chance to voice their frustration about the staffing shortages and required overtime, Steichen said. They also were concerned about working with an outside contractor that may not meet the same training levels, and with little to no knowledge of Cherry Capital Airport.

"We pride ourselves in doing everything we can for the community and answering whatever bell is rung for us," he said. "We have no issues with the airport and what's going on — like in that extra demand on us of maintaining certification."

City firefighters are now working alongside Pro-Tec Fire Services personnel, in the midst of a 90-day period required by a contract between the city and airport, Steichen said. This will end Aug. 16.

Pro-Tec Fire Services President Bill Hershman said there's no reason for anyone to be concerned about working with his employees, noting that the people the Appleton, Wis.-based company employs are all fully certified.

What's more, the firefighter working at Cherry Capital Airport has several years of experience working at Kalamazoo Battle Creek International Airport.

"So there should be no concern relative to the level of certification or training by this individual — or by any of the individuals that we employ," Hershman said.

There are some things to learn when coming in to a new airport, like the layout and runway directions and lengths, Hershman said. But it's hardly a steep learning curve, he said, and the principles of aircraft rescue firefighting are the same.

The request from the airport to add a second firefighter in February caught firefighters by surprise, Steichen said.

Cherry Capital Airport needs two firefighters present to meet a higher level of fire protection, which is required so Sun Country Airlines planes can land and take off there.

While Steichen in his letters objected to what he saw as short notice, Airport Director Kevin Klein insisted he let city administration know as soon as he did that the airport would need another firefighter.

While Steichen said the transition to working alongside Pro-Tec Fire Services personnel hasn't been the smoothest, Tuller and Hershman both said they understand it's going well. The fire chief pointed to an incident where both city and contracted firefighters responded when a small aircraft landed with engine trouble.

"The response went well. Everything went smoothly and the aircraft landed safely," Tuller said.

Geinzer said he was aware of the union's unhappiness with the situation but, like Tuller, insisted those complaints had no impact on the decision not to renew the contract between city and airport.

It all came down to staffing, he emphasized.

"There was no politics or anything like that behind it, it's just this is the reality of the situation we're in right now from a staffing standpoint," he said. "I mean, if we're not able to take care of our own house, it's hard to be able to work in other people's houses."

Nor was Geinzer swayed by the 14 firefighters saying they would drop their ARFF (Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting) certification, he said, adding his recommendations and decisions aren't made "based on threats."

There are some decisions an interim city manager shouldn't make, Geinzer said previously. He wants the next, permanent hire for the city's top administrator to choose the next police chief, for example.

But dropping the airport firefighting agreement is a call he would have made, regardless of whether he planned on sticking around for a few more months or a few years, he said.

Steichen said he agreed the staffing issue was the biggest factor, although he was happy that city commissioners made a decision that matched firefighters' desires to drop the contract. He also saw the end of the agreement as inevitable, noting that municipal fire departments often serve at lower volume airports.

Tuller didn't agree that an end to the contract was inevitable, but he did stress that Traverse City firefighters will still be responding to the airport in an emergency, whether it be a medical call, structure fire or aircraft-related incident.

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